Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, October 27, 2004

No dose of reality will drive Ralph Nader from his presidential campaign.

His vice presidential running mate from 2000 didn't endorse him, some of the John Kerry-bashing Swift Boat veterans gave him money, legal challenges kept him off the ballot in 16 states, and onetime backer Michael Moore crawled on his knees, begging him on national television to drop out of the race.

Yet even though the independent candidate for president is polling about 2 percent or less nearly everywhere, his presence has Democrats on edge in at least six battleground states where the only thing separating President Bush and Kerry, the Democratic challenger, is the margin of polling error and diehard supporters of the 70-year-old consumer advocate.

And nothing will stop Nader or his backers from what they see as their mission to right the republic.

"We have no intention of pulling out," said Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese. Only Nader has the credentials to legitimately critique the corporate-funded campaign system that feeds both major parties, Zeese said. Besides, he said, Nader brings progressive issues to the table, like universal health care for all, that Kerry won't touch.

"Our goal has always been the same: To remove George Bush from office," Zeese said.

The Nader nation may be smaller than it was when he was the Green Party candidate four years ago -- polls show him with about 1 percent of the vote in Florida. But that could translate to 60,000 votes in a state Bush won by 537 votes in 2000. A scaled-down version of the same scenario exists in New Mexico, where Democrat Al Gore beat Bush by 366 votes four years ago.

"(Nader's) support isn't nearly what it was four years ago, but he could be the difference in a state here or there," said Garry South, an adviser to the Kerry campaign. "Any vote taken from Kerry in Florida could be crucial.

"But you wonder what those Nader voters will do once they get inside the voting booth. Will they change their mind then?" South said.

Shrinking numbers

Indeed, even Zeese conceded the campaign has seen its numbers shrink in the last month. He blames efforts by Kerry supporters to tie up the Nader campaign by challenging their legitimacy to get on the ballot in several states.

But others attribute the low numbers to Nader losing his cachet among many progressives who supported him four years ago.

In this election season where no niche is left unexplored, there's a significant effort going into Nader dissuasion.

There's been a "beg-in" in Denver -- people on their knees begging Nader not to run -- and a petition signed by more than 100 of his big-name supporters in 2000 (including Noam Chomsky and Phil Donahue) urging people not to vote for Nader in swing states. Political action committees have been formed around groups calling themselves The Nader Factor and Repentant Nader Voter, some of whom finance people to shadow Nader on the road.

All point to Nader's good karma from the 2000 campaign largely disappearing among many of his supporters. It's a change from 2000, when many progressives cheered Nader's insurgent Green Party presidential run as a spitball in the eye of two seemingly indistinguishable candidates.

Second thoughts

But mindful of the aftermath of the 2000 election, when Nader and his supporters took the brunt of accusations they "stole" votes from Gore in Florida, giving Bush the presidency, many are having second thoughts about voting for Nader again. Even as Nader points out that the Gore campaign lost many states -- including Gore's native Tennessee -- through its own incompetence.

Regardless, progressives are swallowing their reservations about Kerry, in the name of removing Bush from office.

And many don't understand why Nader is risking his stated ultimate goal - - defeating Bush -- by staying in the race and peeling off potential Kerry voters.

"In the eyes of many on the left, Nader has become a megalomaniac, someone who has split off more from reality more than Bush has," said Rich DeLeon, a San Francisco State professor of political science and chronicler of the progressive community for more than three decades. "There's a pragmatic politics going on among many Greens who supported him. They don't want Bush in the White House, and they don't want to be seen as the spoiler again."

Lack of enthusiasm

"There's zero buzz on Nader compared to four years ago," said Larry Bensky, a longtime commentator for Pacifica Radio and KPFA. Bensky broadcast a show in Sonoma after the second presidential debate and none of the 300 people there mentioned Nader afterward. "A lot of people on the left are wondering why Nader is doing this."

All of this fallout hasn't slowed Nader, who is kicking into a sprint in the campaign's final weeks, hop-scotching the same tightly-contested swing states as Bush and Kerry.

He's supported in the field by diehards like Jim Senyszyn, a 60-year-old laid-off computer programmer, who has spent the past few weeks canvassing Wisconsin and Illinois in one of the campaign's 20 Corporate Crimebusters vans.

Last week, Senyszyn stood outside Kerry events in Wisconsin, handing out fliers and talking to voters. Over the past few weeks, Senyszyn and a colleague in the van have handed out 30,000 fliers across the state, organizing small demonstrations and rallies at college campuses and offending corporate headquarters.

"We've got about 15,000 (fliers) left," said Senyszyn, a "longtime peace activist" who earns about $400 a week for his work. "Even though we may lose, we will influence the campaign."